Attached is a photo of PR-11 which crashed on takeoff in June of 1967. I was sitting in Position #2 in the after section. We were on our way to Danang, fully loaded and the fuel was “topped off.” After “roll out”, the Pilot (Lcdr Peterson) got a “GO” at the 1,000’ marker and a “NO-GO” at the 2,000’ marker. Lcdr Peterson completed a near perfect “Take-Off Abort.” But, he had left the “hytrols” “OFF”! The Starboard Main Mount got so hot, when the brakes were applied, that it blew completely off of the aircraft. Then the extended nose gear collapsed and the shimmy dampener came through the lower escape hatch. After that, the Port Main Mount and Strut “pancaked” out to the port side and we were sliding on the lower fuselage. Our salvation was catching the cable at the 8,000’ marker. That stopped the slide we were in, we straightened out and slide across a taxiway. The crew proceeded to egress through the upper hatch after the A/C seemed to catch on fire. But it was just smoke and dust from the field we stopped in. Short of the barricade landing, this was the most frightening experience I was involved in, mainly because we were helpless and it lasted what seemed like an eternity.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 19:16:34 +0000
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